Wednesday, December 30, 2015

They lined up by the hundreds outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the shield of the New York Police Department mixing with the insignia of the United States Air Force on the shoulders of men and women who came to mourn a Nebraskan who took New York as his home.

Detective Joseph Lemm gained a reputation as something of a comic book superhero in the New York department, his bravery and warm manner winning him many admirers. But it was in his role as a sergeant in the Air National Guard that he was killed last week, along with five other Americans, in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan....

... mission is to develop and support relationships for people with developmental disabilities. By selectively matching one person with disabilities in need of companionship with another person who enjoys the more ordinary privileges in life, we promote healthier communities and richer lives....

Do For One NYC is a non profit that works to instill dignity and purpose in the lives of people with disabilities through the power of genuine relationships. On Roosevelt island, we work with Coler hospital residents by providing one to one visits with residents as well as host a number of community gatherings at their facility such as game nights and karaoke. We also work with a few families who have members that are disabled on the island by building and fostering peer to peer relationships as well as hosting gatherings that warmly invites them into community life.

Hope Church Roosevelt Island helps us a great deal and is also how we met a number of families with members who have disabilities.

All proceeds go toward’s Do For One’s mission to instill dignity and purpose in the lives of New Yorkers living with disability.

A Southern Soiree with DoForOne.org! Complete with a Southern Supper and Square Dancing!

Come join us as we click our boots and tip our hats to 2016!

A generous donor has agreed to cover most of the cost of the event so that we can offer a more affordable price! The price is now $25 for pre-registration and all proceeds will go toward instilling dignity and purpose in the lives of those living with disabilty in New York City.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is a member of Congress in New York’s 12th congressional district., the eastern half of Manhattan and portions of Queens. A Democratic, she worked as a teacher and an administrator for the New York City Board of Education. The Congresswoman was the driving for to extend the provisions of the Zadroga Act, federal law providing medical monitoring and treatment for 9/11 first responders which passed just this week, Friday December 18, 2015. Congresswoman Maloney is one of the hardest working members of Congress; the reason is re-elected by ever increasing margins. Recently Congresswoman has been advocating the installation of a Panda bear exhibit in New York City whether it be Central Park or the Bronx Zoo system. Also one of the Congresswoman’s current projects is the Women’s Museum in Washington DC. After years of effort she and her co-backers have received approval and are moving forward.

To hear John CATS upcoming roundtable radio shows, tune in at 9 AM New York time every Sunday morning on 970 AM Radio: The Answer! Can’t get to a radio? Listen in online! The show is live at www.am970theanswer.com at 9 AM New York time every Sunday morning. Thanks for listening!

As another year draws to a close, many of us reflect upon the things that matter most to us. Our families and our community are the focus of every holiday season. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to you for being part of the RI Parents' Network and making it what it has become.

We have now 530 members and look back on many events and get-togethers in 2015 that would not be possible without the dedication, kindness, volunteering efforts and community spirit of many of you. Thank you!

We met monthly for our "Crafts with Kids" workshops that included a "Valentine's Craft", "St Patrick's Craft", "Earth Day Craft", "Easter Craft", "Mother's Day Craft", "Father's Day Craft", "Summer craft - a lady bug", a "Back to school craft", a "Halloween craft", a "Lantern making workshop" a "Thanksgiving Craft", and most recently a "Holiday Craft".

Every week moms went for walks and then enjoyed exercise and chats outside or in playrooms during the RI Moms on the Move (RI MoM) events.

We went out to leave the Island! ;) for a Salsa Night Out, a Mommy-lunch, a night out with drinks and a comedy show, and met here on RI for several Potluck Family Picnics. We got together for many Playroom Share Projects during the first months of the year and for a few now that the winter is slowly turning in again.

We partnered with other Island organizations for their events and are thankful to all our sponsors. I am looking forward to many exciting events in the upcoming year! Please save the date for our New Year's Brunch on January 10, from 11am to 1pm at the 475 lounge.

Another part of our activities was advocacy for the needs of Island families like the functionality of the Tram elevators or Pre-K programs on the Island. We interacted with RIOC and other Island organizations and as a member of the RI Community Coalition (RICC) added the voice of our member families to negotiations with Cornell in regards to the new campus.

Perhaps most importantly, the RI Parents' Network continued to serve as a free information exchange platform and a support network for all interested Island families.

Thank you all for your contributions within this parents' community!

I wish you all Happy Holidays as well as a healthy and joyful year 2016 with lots of energy, sleep and love.

Qi He spoke with several members of the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA) during their 2015 Thanksgiving Dinner.

RIDA members talked about living at the former Goldwater Hospital (future home of Cornell Tech) before obtaining their own Roosevelt Island residential apartment and expressed concern that independent living opportunities on Roosevelt Island for disabled people are becoming more difficult to maintain. Nancy Brown noted the importance of home health care attendants helping disabled people live independently and asked that they receive better pay.

Roadwork and Central Utility Plant – At the CUP, a major milestone will be reached as the roof waterproof membrane nears completion. Installation of the roof top mechanical units, the backup generator, and the transformers will be completed in the first week of this period. Block work continues on the ground floor. Once the transformers are placed, concrete stairs into the transformer vaults will be formed and poured. Plumbing on the ground floor is ongoing. In the vault, utility rack placement and conduit installation continues. Existing gas line abatement will continue on the west roadway, preceding telecom, storm, and electric line installation.

Co-Location Building – At CoLo, steel erection continues and installation of the metal decking is ongoing. The first floor metal deck will be fastened and prepped for the concrete slab floor, which will occur in the beginning of the next period.

Residential Building – At the Residential Building, as the superstructure continues to rise, coordinated work with interior utility installation is ongoing with sleeves, pipes and conduits being cast in place. The superstructure will start on the deck of the 12th floor in the beginning of this period and will be forming the deck for the 16th floor by the beginning of the New Year. The loading dock and hoist will be fully operational at the start of this period. CMU block masonry is underway on the 2nd floor and will also begin on the 3rd floor by the end of this period.

Bloomberg Center – Steel erection on the mechanical floor will continue in this period. Temporary lighting will be installed on the second floor and the grounding loop around the building perimeter is scheduled to continue through this period. The metal decking is being prepped in anticipation of beginning the superstructure floor slab concrete pours which will begin in this period.

Cornell Tech's Community Space at Gallery RIVAA - Holiday Hours: please note that there will be no office hours on Wednesday, December 23rd. In addition Cornell University is closed from December 25th through January 3rd. We wish everyone a joyous holiday season and a safe and prosperous New Year.

We would like to share the following information with Roosevelt Island residents regarding last week tram delays.

At this time we are conducting our lubrication maintenance on our wire ropes.

This maintenance provides our ropes with the necessary protection against corrosion and friction, as a result of this lubrication some of the rubber liner material soften and becomes in contact with the monitoring switch, causing the tram electronic monitoring system to trigger a stop. In order to clear this stop we need to physically access the bullwheel area, and manually re-set the monitoring switch which signal is interfering with the tram operation. Fortunately at this time the rubber material exfoliation is subsiding and we’re gradually resuming normal service.

Although these enhanced safety measures for this general maintenance program has caused some interruptions, the safety precautions taken assures a reliable and trustworthy tram operation.

UPDATE 5:45 PM - The Roosevelt Island Tram operating agreement with Leitner-Poma expired earlier this month. During the December 3 RIOC Board meeting (video web cast here), the RIOC Directors agreed to extend the Leitner-Poma Roosevelt Island Tram operating agreement for up to 6 months. Here's the memo from RIOC Staff in support of a temporary extension of the Poma-Leitner Roosevelt Island Tram operating agreement:

The Operating Agreement with Leitner-Poma expires this week. RIOC has not yet finalized the RFP for the next contract term as there are significant changes from the last RFP which included both design and operations elements. RIOC intends to complete the RFP this winter. Accordingly, it is necessary to extend the current agreement for a maximum of six months.

The extension will provide for monthly payments of $299,527 which covers operating costs and normal maintenance.

The manufacturer’s warranties have expired; major unpredictable breakdowns and major maintenance requirements are, therefore, excluded from the monthly fee. All other terms and conditions of the contract between the parties remain in full force and effect.

Since RIOC has been satisfied with the services of Leitner-Poma, we recommend approval of this extension.

Here's the December 3 RIOC Board discussion of 6 month temporary extension of agreement for Leitner-Poma to operate the Roosevelt Island Tram during which time RIOC will issue a Tram Operator Request For Proposals.

On Saturday December 19 five religious organizations of Roosevelt Island delivered 72 boxes of food to local families and individuals in need. The food was packaged at the Seniors Center for different sized families. Good holiday spirit from: the Cabrini Parish (Catholic), the Hope Church, the Day Spring Church, and our Muslin and Jewish friends.

The food was purchased thru Family Table Ministry with donations from individuals and religious organizations on the island. The coat donation came from an individual who on Black Friday bought them on points. Bags for the coats came from the new Microsoft store on 5th Ave. Next time we will probably need a few more volunteers on day of distribution. We also wrapped as much as we could to really make it feel like a gift.

We tried very hard to give everyone on our lists some food, we tried when people would let us to put away the food so they wouldn’t be burdened trying to deal with the heavy box/ bags.

We were heartbroken to see so many almost empty refrigerators’ so close to the holidays. We did miss a few people but not to many. Luella and Ana from Disable Association Support for Seniors & Homebound (DASH) also gave amazing assistance. Cabrini Church heard while we were working that members of Day Spring Church needed men's coats and sweaters and donated a clothing rack full of men's clothing. We are so proud of this awesome collaboration with caring members of this community. Some of the comments we received yesterday.

“I've live on Roosevelt Island more than 30 year and no one has ever done anything this nice for me before”

“I had to chose between giving my grandchildren Christmas presents or food I choose getting them gifts. You are an answer to my prayers.”

“I haven’t had a new coat in years thank you so much” Then she cried.

“How much is all this food going to cost” IT's free it’s a gift to you from the community. “I don’t know what to say… thank you so much!”

I was so heartbroken by what I saw. I went home and cried. I know very few people who are as stoic as I am but this here in our own community was heart breaking.

Roosevelt Island Day Nursery (RIDN) is pleased to announce that we are a candidate to offer Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) classes on Roosevelt Island for the 2016-2017 school year. We are optimistic that RIDN will be an approved UPK site for many reasons: we already have the necessary Department of Health license, are staffed with Director/teachers that have the required qualifications, and have a proven history as a UPK site.

There are a number of steps that need to happen before we are definitely approved. We are hoping to know definitively in spring. In the meantime, the Department of Education is seeking information from us. In order to help them determine how many spots RIDN may be allotted, they would like to know how many families in the Roosevelt Island community would be interested in a full-day UPK program. Communicating your interest at this early stage is important to the planning process; we hope to serve as many community families as possible. (As described in the DOE UPK community-based organization's admissions guidelines, RIDN will first allocate UPK spots for children currently enrolled at RIDN). If you have a child born in 2012 (eligible for UPK in 2016-2017), are not currently attending RIDN and are interested in your child attending a full-day UPK in September, please email Rhonda at office@ridn.org. Please include your name, your child's full name and date of birth, address, and your phone contact information.

If you are interested in enrolling your child at RIDN before September 2016, we do still have vacancies and would be happy to give you a tour. We also have some scheduled Open Houses where we will share information about our philosophy and tour both of our sites:

Friday, February 5 8-:30 am-9:30 am (morning tour)

Thursday, February 25 6:30-8 pm (evening tour)

Saturday, February 27 10:30 am-12 pm (weekend tour)

If you would like to attend one of these Open Houses, please RSVP to Rhonda at office@ridn.org.

If RIDN does become an approved UPK provider for the 2016-2017 school year, we look forward to meeting this need by helping more families be able to have a high-quality full-day UPK program located on the Island.

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WELCOME TO ROOSEVELT ISLAND

Welcome to the Roosevelt Islander Online!

Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.

The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.